Carnival’s Afternoon Tea Menu

Afternoon Tea is a fun experience on a Carnival cruise. There is no paper menu for Carnival’s Afternoon Tea, but there are some things you should expect to find every time.

Afternoon Tea Menu Item #1: The Tea

When you are first seated at Carnival’s Afternoon Tea, the waiters will bring around a box of their specialty tea. There are quite a few unique choices in the box of tea that you are able to choose from. This tea usually costs a few dollars.

Instead of choosing from the box, you can ask for the free Lipton tea if you would prefer. They will happily bring you the free tea instead.

They will bring you your own pot of hot water so you are able to brew your tea at your table.

You can also request coffee instead. They do not offer coffee, but there is always coffee available if you are not a tea drinker or just prefer coffee with your sweets.

Looking for information about when and where you would find Afternoon Tea plus more about what to expect? Check out this Guide to Afternoon Tea on a Carnival Cruise.

Afternoon Tea Menu Item #2: Finger Sandwiches

The first food item the waiters bring around should be finger sandwiches. The two choices are usually cucumber and smoked salmon.

As you would expect, the finger sandwiches are cut into quarters and are more of a sample than supposed to be anything substantial.

Afternoon Tea Menu Item #3: The dessert cart

The dessert cart. This is why everyone is here. No one is here for the tea. Or the finger sandwiches. We are here for the dessert cart.

They come around with the dessert card and you just request the items you want off of it.

There is no set menu to the desserts that are on the cart. You don’t choose from a menu, but just choose from what is in front of you.

Usually there is a lemon cake, a chocolate cake, a berry tart with chocolate, macaroons and scones (with cream). The dessert cart options can change depending on the cruise so it might be slightly different depending on the particular ship or sailing.

Yes, you will probably feel very greedy. Just request everything.

You can ask for small slices.

Don’t forget the scones and even more importantly, you may have to ask for cream to go with them.

General tips for how to have the best Afternoon Tea experience on Carnival:

The waiters are not trained in a “traditional” afternoon tea. They may not know to offer you cream with your scones. They may not think you need sandwiches, scones, and cake which you clearly do if you are having a traditional afternoon tea experience. If you feel like you should have something else to make this experience better, ask.

You have to be kind of vocal. I’m not sure if they tell the waiters not to offer things unless people ask for them or if they use new waiters for Afternoon Tea (I suspect both), but the waiters are there to serve the food. Don’t be shy about asking for what you want.